The AMA Planning Committee invite Record Companies and individuals to submit recordings to be nominated. Nominations are made online and a physical copy of the work is sent to the Planning Committee between July and August. Once a work is entered, reviewing sessions are held, by more than 150 experts from the recording industry, to determine whether the work is eligible and entered in the correct category for official nomination.
The resulting list is circulated to all Voting Panel Members made up of media men & women, each of whom may vote to nominate in the general field (Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist) and in no more than 4 out of 12 other fields on their ballots. The 5 recordings that earn the most votes in each category become the nominees. There may be more than five nominees if there is a tie in the nomination process.
After nominees have been determined, final voting is done online by the general public between August and September. Following the tabulation of votes the winners are announced at the African Music Awards. The recording with the most votes in a category wins and it is possible to have a tie. Winners are presented with the AMA Golden Stattutte and those who do not win are given a medal for their nomination.
In both voting rounds, the Voting Panel Members are required to vote based upon quality alone, and not to be influenced by sales, chart performance, personal friendships, regional preferences or company loyalty. The acceptance of gifts is prohibited. Members are urged to vote in a manner that preserves the integrity of the awards.
The eligibility period for the 2011 Awards is January 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011.